In a speech at The Council Of Foreign Relations on 29th June 2016,
CIA Director John O.Brennan talks openly about Geoengineering.
Link to full transcript here
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2016-speeches-testimony/director-brennan-speaks-at-the-council-on-foreign-relations.html
“…Another example is the array of technologies—often referred to
collectively as geoengineering—that potentially could help reverse the
warming effects of global climate change. One that has gained my
personal attention is stratospheric aerosol injection, or SAI, a method
of seeding the stratosphere with particles that can help reflect the
sun’s heat, in much the same way that volcanic eruptions do.
An SAI program could limit global temperature increases, reducing
some risks associated with higher temperatures and providing the world
economy additional time to transition from fossil fuels. The process is
also relatively inexpensive—the National Research Council estimates that
a fully deployed SAI program would cost about $10 billion yearly.
As promising as it may be, moving forward on SAI would raise a number
of challenges for our government and for the international community.
On the technical side, greenhouse gas emission reductions would still
have to accompany SAI to address other climate change effects, such as
ocean acidification, because SAI alone would not remove greenhouse gases
from the atmosphere.
On the geopolitical side, the technology’s potential to alter weather
patterns and benefit certain regions at the expense of others could
trigger sharp opposition by some nations. Others might seize on SAI’s
benefits and back away from their commitment to carbon dioxide
reductions. And, as with other breakthrough technologies, global norms
and standards are lacking to guide the deployment and implementation of
SAI….”
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